An Update of Sorts

I got my haircut today. Again at the Aveda Institute. You might remember the last time I went I had the very nervous student. Well, luck of lucks, I get her again today. And she's still nervous and kind of weird. But again I think she did a good job so I can't really complain. I really hope I get someone different next time though.

You might also remember the custom Vans I ordered back in April for the Vans book we're doing for work. Well today there was a party for the book a powerHouse books in Dumbo. It was a cool party, Tony Alva and Steve Callabrarera (that is not how you spell his last name) were there and there was a question and answer section and it was cool to hear their stories. And a lot of interesting people to watch, many of whom embody this mold.

But I got to wear:



MY VANS!! (Please note that I do not have cankles and my legs are smooth and not lumpy, I don't know what's wrong with this picture but it's not good. Also the faint blue area on my shoes are from where my dark jeans bled in the rain last week! And don't we have nice wood floors?)

Perfect NYC Day

AF is still here visiting with me so we spent the entire day around the city. Except for the sunlight being so bright that I could barely keep my infected eyes with the swollen corneas open, it was a pretty-perfect day.

We went to the MOMA where we saw Tangled Alphabets which I thought was a great exhibit. Totally not what I normally like, but if I ever have money these are the type of things that I want in my mansion. Then I finally got to see Into the Sunset and honestly, I really didn't like it. It was curated by theme, not chronologically and it just didn't make sense and it was difficult to follow. I was not impressed.

Then we went down to Soho and ate at a fantastic Cuban restaurant that I love and then did some shopping. Eventually we met up with AF's high school roommate who briefly went to MHC with us, and that was nice. This girl is a little nutty, she's ADHD, but she's a good person. I guess she's kind of lonely in the city so she kept saying we should hang out. I like her and all and it would be nice to have someone to do crazy stuff with, but I'm not sure how long I could handle her. Evil as that sounds.

Tonight we had dinner at Rose Water, the place I went in April for restaurant week with LM. It was amazing again, their food is beyond. I had the spring onion soup as an appetizer and it was brilliant. Plus I even found a Chardonnay that I liked.

I've Been Bad

I know, I know, I haven't been updating as much as I should. I've been bad. Here's a recap of what's been happening...

- Sales conference at work on Friday went well, this week should be one hell of a stressful week, not excited about it.

- When I went to work out on Friday morning I couldn't find my iPod shuffle. Now I love my Shuffle, it's little, it's functional, it clips on, I can use it while I work out, I can use it walking around in the summer when I don't have a coat pocket for my big one, and I don't need to use my headphone attachment with it. So when I couldn't find it I was devastated. But I came home tonight, continued the search and finally found it in the bin where I keep my magazines.

- For the sneakers my parents bought me for my birthday the company sent the wrong size. They sent a men's 9 rather than a women's 9. So I reordered. Hopefully they'll get it right this time. Pictures tk.

- I just finished reading American Wife, I had had it for a while and never got around to reading it. I started it on the plane to Phoenix and I really enjoyed it. The end was a little tedious and self-righteous, but overall I really enjoyed it.

Isn't it weird how the HC and PB versions of the cover are just slightly different?



Hardcover



Paperback

It's the same picture, but the PB one is so much brighter--her dress is whiter, her arm is whiter, it's odd. I get why they changed the color of the title and other text, but the lightening is odd.

- Oh and I think I might have pink eye. My eye lid and right under my eye have very dry skin and just tonight my eyeballs started bothering me. I really hope it's nothing, I don't want to go through something else with my eyes.

Denim Comparison

I got the second pair of jeans I sent to Denim Therapy back. Below you can see a photo comparison. They really do a great job. With the flash of my camera the color looks off, and I couldn't get the lighting or flash better, but I assure you that to the naked eye there is no difference in color. There is a difference in texture, but that's not really a problem.



Before



After

I will continue to send jeans that I destroy to them.

And for anyone who loves Obama as much as I do there is an amazing Flickr account from the White House of the first 100 days. I spent hours at work looking through them.

Tasty Meal

I made the best meal for dinner tonight. I was going to take a picture, but then I just inhaled it. I would most definitely recommend the recipe. Although I made a few changes. I used regular broccoli instead of broccoli rabe since I don't really like broccoli rabe; I doubled the amount of red pepper flakes because I like my food spicy; I used penne instead of long pasta because that's what I had on hand; and I put a tablespoon of parmesan cheese on top. Thankfully I have enough to bring for lunch tomorrow and Wednesday. I think I might try it cold, see how it tastes.

I'm happy to report that work today wasn't so bad. I had a lot to do so it didn't feel so torturous. I think that's the thing, I need a lot to do otherwise I sit there and my mind keeps spinning and going to all the negative.

And, oddly enough, I even feel moderately ok about Phoenix, let's hope this holds out.

PS, I need to remember to buy sheets. I have great flannel sheets and then in the spring and summer I usually sleep in jersey cotton sheets, but they're just too soft and warm. I need crips, cool cotton.

A Random (Cheerier!) Post

So I've been skewing a little negative lately, here's to improving that. Some random thoughts because it's late and I don't feel like working in paragraphs...

- I spent 6 hours in the park today, alone, reading. It was great. Unfortunately there were more children than I would have preferred, but it was still wonderful.

- I Love You, Man is a very funny movie, I definitely recommend it.

- State of Play is a fairly ok movie until the end when it's just lame, I don't recommend it.

- Sunburns behind your knees are incredibly painful. I'm so pale that even with reapplying sunscreen several times I still burn. Thank god for Advil and aloe.

- I got a cardigan, workout capris, and 2 tee-shirts from the Gap today for $60. Not too bad. Without the sale it would have been at least double.

And I'm off to bed!

Irrational Anger

Our plumbing issues are all resolved, thank god. I came home tonight and all was well.

Yet, despite this, I'm still filled with irrational anger. I get like this from time to time. I don't know why or how or anything, but I could literally scream at or punch the next person who speaks to me. I know it can't be healthy and that it's not good, but what do I do? Get some fun pills to pop when it happens? I'll go to bed in a few minutes and hopefully wake up feeling refreshed tomorrow.

Another odd thing that happened to me yesterday was a mix-up with a package I ordered from Amazon. It arrived at work, addressed to me and when I opened it later in the afternoon inside were 2 BeeGees CDs and a Phil Collins CD. Not what I ordered. There was also a packing slip saying it was meant to go to a woman in NC. I called and they overnighted me my stuff and were supposed to email me a UPS label to send the woman's stuff back, but I haven't received it so we'll see. I might be the proud owner of 2 BeeGees CDs and a Phil Collins CD.

Monday, Monday

Today I joined Weight Watchers. I've always been against diets and Weight Watchers because I don't feel like you can sustain them and it annoys me that crap like those 100 calorie snack things (don't get me started on those) can be fewer points than fruit or whatever. But after speaking to someone at work who's been doing it for a month or two I realized that I can make it work for me. If I don't want to eat that processed crap then I won't eat the processed crap, it's more of a way of practicing portion control and holding myself accountable. And so far I really like it. It fits well with my obsessive planning personality. So my first goal is to lose 9.6lbs and I will keep you updated (but not in an annoying, dramatic, emotional dear diary way).

Some things I keep meaning to mention...

We're doing a book on Vans, the sneaker company, so as a promotional thing for Book Expo a select group of people got to design their own custom Vans and order them free of charge. My attempt at being creative:



I don't really think I'm a stars person, but I really liked these. We'll see how they look in person in 5-7 weeks.

Not that I really paid close attention to Madeline Albright's pins while she was Secretary of State, but this exhibit at the Museum of Arts and Design sounds really interesting. I've never been to MAD, but it's definitely been on my list of places I want to go.

And this exhibit at the New Museum (another place I need to visit) sounds interesting as well. Maybe I can bring AF when she's here in May.

Another list

I'm too tired and I lack enough to say to write in paragraphs...

- Went to Target today, Target is like my Mecca. Not the Target in Brooklyn, but the ones in the suburbs. Heavenly. Bought candy, sunscreen, a magazine, and I picked up the pictures I ordered.

- Why does no one in the suburbs feel they need an umbrella? At Target NO ONE (not exaggerating, literally NO ONE) had an umbrella. It was raining all day, I went at 1pm, it had been raining since at least 10am. Everyone just ran across the parking lot, got dropped off and picked up from the door, or held something else over their head. Why did no one have an umbrella??

- I watched a preview for the Real Housewives of NJ. O.M.G. What a shitshow that looks like! And I was mortified to find that I recognized one of the women from an episode of My Big Fat Fabulous Wedding or whatever that show was called that was on VH1 years ago.

- I also watched that new show Cupid, I don't know, I kind of liked it. And the lead guy? Hot.

Ok, this was a really shallow post. I apologize.

Randomness

This is going to be another random entry.

I bought this:



dress from J. Crew yesterday in gray. I'm debating whether I should get the white too. I need something to wear to the Laurel Parade when I go back to Mount Holyoke for reunion. It has to be white. I have a white dress here that I bought to wear to the Laurel Parade when I graduated, but it didn't really fit and it still fits funny now. Decisions.

Speaking of reunion, since I finally convinced AF to go with me we're on. I'm really excited. 2 years. Obviously doesn't seem like a lot but it's crazy to think about. In honor of the 2 years I decided to look back on what I was doing on April 1, 2007, the year I graduated college.

Emails to AF show that it was the day after one of the legendary College Democrats Date Auctions so it was a Sunday. We went to Cracker Barrel for breakfast and when we returned there was this email from the dean:

"You may have noticed heightened activity around the campus and especially perimeter areas. The South Hadley police and fire departments, with assistance from Public Safety, are searching for a missing person who may be at risk of injuring himself. There seems to be no cause for concern about the safety of others. We do not have a picture, but if you have any information that you think may be of use, you can call Public Safety."

This was AF's reply:

"i'm not surprised. this place seems to attract weird people. not including us."

Speaking of April Fool's Day the Huffington Post had this article which contained this interesting nugget of information:

The origins of April Fools' Day are murky, but the likeliest explanation is that it began as a way to mock French people who were slow to switch to the Gregorian Calendar which changed New Year's from April 1 to January 1. These folks were labeled "fools" and some were sent on "fools' errands."

I wonder if it's true or if they're pulling my leg?